HOT SPRINGS Analyses of the Waters of The Hot Springs of Arkansas Geological Sketch of Hot Springs, Arkansas

ANALYSES OF THE WATERS AND GEOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE HOT SPRINGS OF ARKANSAS.

The matter contained in this publication was originally issued as Senate Document 282, Fifty-seventh Congress, first session. It is reprinted here without material change in content, the analyses being printed in slightly different form in order to save space. The introductory matter has been added.

HISTORICAL NOTES.

The Arkansas Hot Springs have been known since the early settlement of Louisiana. Altthough it is only a legend that they were visited by De Soto on his trip to the Mississippi, there is no doubt that they were used by the Indians before the advent of Columbus, as abundant evidence was found in early days that the Indians quarried the dense rocks near the Hot Springs for arrowheads and spearheads and utilized the spring waters for bathing.

In 1804 two members of the Lewis and Clarke exploring expedition visited the place and found that white visitors had already used the waters for bathing. In 1818 the lands on which the springs are located were ceded to the General Government by the Quapaw Indians and became afterwards a part of the Territory of Arkansas. The ground about the springs was located by various claimants before the organization of the Territory of Arkansas, but by act of Congress the springs and the ground about them were reserved in 1834 for the United States Government, thus making the first national park reservation of the country. Owing to the claims made by various parties to a private ownership of the springs they remained in the possession of such claimants until the United States Supreme Court decided in favor of the Government in 1877.

The act of Congress of March 3, 1877, provided for the appointment by the President of three commissioners, whose duties are defined by said act as follows:

SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of said commissioners, after examination of the topography of the reservation, to lay out into convenient squares, blocks, lots, avenues, streets, and alleys, the lines of which shall correspond with the existing boundary lines of occupants of said reservation as near as may be consistent with the interests of the United States, the following described lands, to wit: The south half of section twenty-eight, the south half of section twenty-nine, all of sections thirty-two and thirty-three, in township two south and range nineteen west; and the north half of section four, the north half of section five, in township three south and range nineteen west, situate in the county of Garland and State of Arkansas, and known as the Hot Springs Reservation.

SEC. 4. That before making any subdivision of said lands, as described in the preceding section, it shall be the duty of said board of commissioners, under the direction and subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to designate a tract of land included in one boundary, sufficient in extent to include, and which shall include, all the hot or warm springs situate on the lands aforesaid, to embrace, as near as may be, what is known as Hot Springs Mountain, and the same is hereby reserved from sale, and shall remain under the charge of a superintendent, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, however, That nothing in this section shall prevent the Secretary of the Interior from fixing a special tax on water taken from said springs, sufficient to pay for the protection and necessary improvement of the same.

In the year mentioned a commission was appointed and recommended a permanent plan of improvement. Under that plan the land not needed for permanent reservation was platted in streets and alleys, and lots were assigned to various individuals. The original reservation consisted of 2,529 acres, of which 700 acres were awarded to individuals for business and residence purposes, 358 acres were used for streets and alleys, and 570 acres were platted in town lots reserved for future disposal.

In 1876 the town of Hot Springs was incorporated, and in 1881 the General Government donated to the city the ground platted for streets and alleys. The congressional enactment of June 16, 1880, provided as follows:

SEC. 3. That those divisions of the Hot Springs Reservation, known as the mountainous districts, not divided by streets on the maps made by the commissioners, but known and defined on the map and in the report of the commissioners as North Mountain, West Mountain, and Sugar Loaf Mountain, be, and the same are hereby, forever reserved from sale, and dedicated to public use as parks, to be known, with Hot Springs Mountain, as the permanent reservation.

THE RESERVATION.

Under the two acts mentioned above the mountains adjacent to the springs are permanently reserved. The Hot Springs Reservation contains 911.63 acres, and includes Hot Springs Mountain, North Mountain, West Mountain, Sugar Loaf Mountain, and Whittington Lake Park. The springs are all grouped about the base of Hot Springs Mountain, their aggregate flow being 826,308 gallons per day. The hot water is supplied to the various bathhouses, and the receipts from this source are all expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior in improving the service and in developing and beautifying the reservation. There are more than 11 miles of well-built roads and footpaths over the mountains.

The Government is represented at the springs by a superintendent and a medical director, both appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. The superintendent has supervision over all general matters connected with the Government's interests, is disbursing officer, and enforces the rules and regulations of the department. The medical director has charge of sanitation, hydrotherapy, the bathing of patients, the Government free bathhouse for the indigent, the instruction and supervision of bath attendants, and the determination as to their fitness for employment.

THE PAY BATHHOUSES.

There are 23 pay bathhouses operated under rules and regulations approved by the Secretary of the Interior. Eleven are on the reservation at the base of Hot Springs Mountain, constituting what is known as "Bathhouse Row," and 12 are located at various points in the city. Eleven are in connection with hotels, hospitals, or sanatoria. The water is the same in all, but the prices charged for the baths vary in the different houses in accordance with the equipments and accommodations furnished. The rates are fixed in each instance by the Secretary of the Interior. The charges for the services of the attendants are the same in all, and include all the necessities of the bath except furnishing and laundering towels, bath robes, and mitts, rubbing mercury, and handling helpless invalids.

THE ARMY AND NAVY GENERAL HOSPITAL.

The Army and Navy General Hospital is also supplied with water from the springs. It is administered by the War Department for the benefit of officers and enlisted men of the military and naval service of the United States, cadets at the United States Military and Naval Academies, officers of the Revenue-Cutter Service, officers of the Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service, and honorably discharged soldiers and sailors of the Regular and Volunteer Army and Navy of the United States who are suffering from such diseases as the waters of the hot springs of Arkansas have an established reputation in benefiting.

Admission to this hospital of all such cases regardless of their severity is not, however, contemplated. Its facilities will not be extended to mild and transient cases which should yield to ordinary treatment but are reserved for those of a serious and obstinate character, which, though resisting ordinary methods of relief, promise a rapid and permanent recovery from the use of the waters of the springs.

Application for admission to this institution should be made to the Adjutant General, United States Army, at Washington, D. C.

THE GOVERNMENT FREE BATHS.

The Government free bathhouse for the indigent was established pursuant to act of Congress of December 16, 1878. The number of baths given to the poor during the year 1910 was 200,048.

The act of March 2, 1911, provides that an applicant for free baths shall be required to make oath that he is without and unable to obtain means to pay for baths, and a false oath as to his financial condition makes him guilty of a misdemeanor and subjects him, upon conviction thereof, to a fine of not to exceed $25, or 30 days' imprisonment, or both.

Tickets are issued only to those who, after examination, are found to be suffering from diseases that may reasonably be expected to be benefited by the baths. Children are not allowed in the bathhouse unless they themselves are patients.

Those who intend making application for these baths are advised that no other treatment is provided. There is no hospital attached, and they must provide their own board and lodging. There are no hospitals in the city of Hot Springs to which patients can be admitted free of charge, nor are any funds available from which relief can be afforded or railroad transportation furnished to their homes. This statement appears necessary, as many destitute invalids come each year from other and distant States in the belief that the Government maintains a public institution at which they will be cared for free of charge.

THE CHARACTER AND ACTION OF THE WATERS.

The source of the heat is believed to be great masses of igneous rock intruded in the earth's crust by volcanic agencies. Deep-seated waters converted into vapors by contact with this heated mass probably ascend through fissures toward the surface where they meet cold springs, which are heated by the vapors.

The waters are radioactive in a marked degree, and to the presence of this rare element in gaseous form is now generally attributed their salutary effects. The baths create a reaction accompanied by an elevation of body temperature, accelerated heart action with diminished blood pressure in the arteries, and a stimulation of the nutritive changes in the tissue cells, especially those composing the organs of elimination and those concerned in the formation of the blood. The mineral constituent is very low, and when the waters are taken internally, combined with the sweating produced by the baths and packs, elimination by all the emunctories is greatly increased.

The hot waters may reasonably be expected to give relief in the following conditions: In gout or rheumatism after the acute or inflammatory stage; in neuralgia when dependent upon gout, rheumatism, malaria, or metallic poisoning; in the early stages of chronic Bright's disease; in catarrhal conditions of the gall bladder; in certain forms of disease of the pelvic organs, and in sterility in women in chronic malaria, alcoholism, and drug addictions; in many chronic skin diseases; in some forms of anemia; in syphilis; in gonorrheal rheumatism; in toxaemias and conditions of defective elimination; and in some forms of cardiovascular disease with increased tension in the blood vessels.

The general tonic and recuperative effects are marked in conditions of debility and neurasthenia due to the strain and fatigue incident to social and business cares and responsibilities, and in many other conditions the baths and climate are useful aids to medical treatment. The reservation parks afford opportunities for out-of-door life, driving, riding, automobiling, and hill climbing. Much importance is attached by local physicians to the possibilities for out-of-door life.

The baths are contraindicated in tuberculosis of the throat and lungs and in all forms of cancer.

PHYSICIANS.

The only physicians who are allowed to prescribe the waters of the hot springs are those licensed practitioners of the State of Arkansas who have been examined by a Federal board of medical examiners appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. Visitors are warned that physicians who have not passed the Federal board and been registered in the superintendent's office, are not permitted to make use of the baths in the treatment of their patients. This rule is for the protection of visitors who, if they desire the baths, should before employing a physician, procure from the superintendent of the reservation a list of the qualified practitioners.

While the baths may be taken without the advice of a physician by procuring a permit at the office of the superintendent, this practice is not recommended. Patients who assume to determine the nature of their ailments, and to prescribe for themselves, often fail to obtain the desired relief. The waters are not beneficial in all diseases and in some are harmful. It is a useless expenditure of time and money to take the baths for a disease that will not be benefited by them, and such procedure can only result in delaying proper treatment.

Physicians' fees are from $25 a month up, according to the treatment required.

Visitors are advised for their own protection that soliciting for hotels, boarding houses, or doctors on the trains running into Hot Springs is in violation of law, and are warned against heeding the advice of irresponsible and unknown persons.

In the interest of the public it has been found necessary to prohibit the bathing of anyone stopping at a hotel or boarding house in which the solicitation of patronage for doctors is allowed. Such solicitation usually takes the form of advising the patient that the doctor to whom he has been recommended by a friend at home is out of town, but that Dr. X is as good a man and will treat him for less money. The drummer commonly poses as a greatly benefited and grateful patient of the doctor who employs him. Doctors who make use of agents to induce patients to take treatment from them usually divide their fees with the solicitors or drummers.

The moral responsibility of good citizenship demands that visitors should make known to the superintendent of the reservation any instance of soliciting for doctors, thus effectively aiding the department in eliminating an obnoxious practice, and insuring to themselves the full benefits of proper treatment at this resort.

RAILROADS.

The railroads running into Hot Springs are the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific and the St; Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern. Through cars are operated from many of the larger cities. Detailed information can be obtained from local ticket agents.

THE CITY OF HOT SPRINGS.

The city of Hot Springs has extended beyond the narrow valley in which the springs are located and spread out over the open plain to the south and east. It is supplied with all the public utility services of the larger cities. There are churches of every denomination, public and private schools, hospitals and sanatoria, theaters and other places of amusement, a race track, and the State fair grounds. The resident population is about 16,000.

There are many hotels, the largest affording accommodations for 1,000 guests, and several hundred boarding houses ranging in price from $5 a week up. Cottages and apartments for light housekeeping, furnished or unfurnished, can be rented from $10 a month up. The cost of living is about the same as in average cities of like size.

Lists of hotels and boarding houses can be obtained at the Business Men's League, which is located next to the post office, and inquiries of a general nature not related to the administration of the baths will be answered by its secretary.

The climate is good throughout the year. In the earlier days Hot Springs was exclusively a summer resort, the hotels being closed from October to March. In later years, however, owing to the number who come during the winter months to escape the cold of the north, the resort is patronized throughout the year. There is no malaria.

The elevation of the city is 600 feet, and that of the surrounding hills about 1,200 feet above the level of the sea.